A study on the effect of residual stresses on hydride assisted crack in Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material using XFEM. (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jha, Anjali; Sarkar, Subrato; Singh, I.V.; Mishra, B.K.; Singh, Ritu; Singh, R.N.
• Is Part Of: Theoretical and applied fracture mechanics. Volume 121(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: Hydride embrittlement -- Pressure tube -- Residual stresses -- Delayed hydride cracking -- Diffusion -- XFEM; Fracture mechanics -- Periodicals; 620.1126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tafmec.2022.103536
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0167-8442

Abstract

Highlights: Hydrogen-induced cracking in Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material is modeled successfully using the XFEM framework. The effect of residual stress variation in the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube is studied on the hydride embrittlement. Two specimens from different locations of pressure tube with different residual stress variations are considered. The effect of residual stresses on hydrogen concentration and hydride volume fraction is evaluated and analysed. Abstract: Residual stresses in the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube (PT) significantly affect its resistance to hydride embrittlement. This work aims to study the influence of residual stresses on hydride embrittlement using a model formulated for the delayed hydride cracking (DHC) mechanism. The DHC model includes transient hydrogen diffusion and hydride precipitation. The model is implemented using the extended finite element method (XFEM) that is validated with the analytical and numerical solutions available in the literature. Two different variations of residual stresses at different locations of PT available in the literature are used for this study. The results show that high tensile residual stresses in the PT help hydride growth and reduce the failure time.